NOW OPEN: Ghost Brothers of Darkland County April 4th - May 13th in Atlanta

King, Mellencamp stage musical in Midtown
NeighborNewspaper.com By Gloria Love

In crafting the new musical “Ghost Brothers of Darkland County,” author Stephen King and musician John Mellencamp set off down the twisted roads of the Southern Gothic and were led to Midtown’s own Alliance Theatre.

The tale of tragedy in a tiny Mississippi town is scheduled to premiere in April to close the theatre’s 2011-12 season.

During a developmental workshop at the Alliance Thursday, King said he began work on the project 12 years ago after Mellencamp contacted him with a ghost story from his home state of Indiana.

“What a long, strange trip it’s been,” King said. “One of the reasons I got into this and said yes is, first of all, I respect John as a musician and as someone not content to stay in one place.

“I’m in my 60s now. I’m not a kid … I wanted to try something a little bit risky and something outside my comfort zone.”

King penned the story of two brothers and a young girl who meet a mysterious end — and their interaction with the event’s one living witness.

Mellencamp stepped in with music and lyrics and brought in legendary producer T Bone Burnett as musical director. Burnett provided similar direction for the 2000 film “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”

King and Mellencamp sought a regional theatre to stage the show, and decided an Atlanta location offered unique advantages.

“We wanted a place that was cosmopolitan but not out of touch with country roots. Atlanta seemed like the middle of the bulls-eye,” King said. “You know that song, ‘If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere?’ That’s how I feel about Atlanta and this show.”

The pair also wanted the benefit of working with Susan Booth, the Alliance’s artistic director, who, “has forgotten more about the theatre than John and I know,” King said.

“The only other play I wrote was for the Boy Scouts,” he said. “I was 10.”
King and Mellencamp started to stage the show two previous times, once at the Alliance and once on Broadway, but called those productions off for various reasons, Mellencamp said.

Now, almost at the end of the process, they are solely focused on creating one great Atlanta production, he said.

“[Afterward], I personally don’t care if we go to Broadway or Washington, D.C. or to the moon or Indiana,” Mellencamp said.

“Ghost Brothers” is set to run April 4 to May 13.

Information: Call (404) 733-5000 or visit www.alliancetheatre.org/ghostbrothers

King, Mellencamp and T-Bone chat up Ghost Brothers
Creative Loafing Atlanta By Curt Holman  
Group press conferences about artistic projects tend to be lovefests, so it’s no surprise that the Alliance Theatre’s Dec. 15 presser for Ghost Brothers of Darkland County served as a mutual admiration society. “How often do you get a chance to work with this kind of trifecta?” director Susan V. Booth asked of Ghost Brothers’ principle creators, book writer Stephen King, lyricist and composer John Mellencamp and music director T-Bone Burnett. "Ghost Brothers" could even describe their working relationship.

The press conference capped off the Alliance’s 10-day workshop with Ghost Brothers’ full cast in advance of its world premiere on April 4, 2012. The conversation emphasized good-natured joshing around over the nuts-and-bolts creative process of the musical.

When Mellencamp said, tongue partially in cheek, “Susan has a vision and ability to deal with all three of our egos and idea,” King added, “We’d get another email from Susan and I’d say ‘There goes another two pages of the script!’ Which was okay, since the script was 500 pages.”

While chatting and answering questions at the Alliance’s rehearsal space, King, Mellencamp and Burnett seem to be very much on each other’s wavelengths for Ghost Brothers. The musical originated about 12 years ago, while King was recovering from his near-fatal car accident 1999 car accident. He recalls meeting with Mellencamp: “John said, ‘I have this idea about a cabin and some brothers who died there. Maybe we could make a musical together.”

King told him that he’d think about it and would work on a treatment if he had time. Mellencamp recalls, “I didn’t even get where I was going to next, and you sent me the treatment. And it was a book — 60 pages!”

Mellencamp explained that he and Burnett complemented each other, because Burnett has an encyclopedic knowledge of song from the 1920s through the 1950s, and Mellencamp’s musical knowledge takes up afterward.

King gave an example of his own musical simpatico with Burnett over obscure country crooners. “The first time I met T-Bone, we were in Nashville talking about the beginning of play. At first, when the audience comes and sits down, there should be 1950s-style country radio playing. I said it should sound like Hank Williams, but that we probably can’t afford the [music] clearance. So I said maybe someone like Henson Cargill, and T-Bone immediately said ‘Skip a Rope,’ which was perfect.”

Ghost Brothers concerns three killings in Mississippi in the 1950s and its repercussions for people in the present day. Burnett explained his goals for the show’s overall rootsy sound. “First, Stephen King and John Mellencamp were writing it, and they live in the same part of America, small-town America. The next thing, it was ghosts, it was dead people, it was Mississippi. I wanted it to sound dark and foggy. I wanted it to sound scary.”

The show features performers from Atlanta and across the country, and Mellencamp appreciated casting the show outside of Broadway. “Why tried casting in New York, and it didn’t work. It was too ‘Broad! Way! Rhy-thm!’ We had to get out of there. I didn’t need to hear ‘MY SONGS SUNG THAT WA-AAY!’” he said, almost slipping into an Ethel Merman impression.

Perhaps the press conference’s most frequent refrain was the “trifecta’s” excitement about debuting the play in the South, and at the Alliance Theatre in particular. The Alliance was on King and Mellencamp’s short list for regional theaters to try out the show. King said, “We talked about a number of regional theaters, and would they want to take a chance on guys who are—”

“TOTAL unknowns,” Booth quipped.

“No, professionals in our fields, but new to theater. We came to the Alliance, and my eyes fell out of my head,” King added. “And it’s not just the theater here, it’s the whole arts complex. I like that it’s in Georgia. [Ghost Brothers] is a Southern story. It’s a country story.”

“And I have an album by the Atlanta Rhythm Section,” King quipped.

King denied that Ghost Brothers’ Alliance debut was a dry run for Broadway. “This is not like when pro baseball players are in the minor leagues and want to go the majors. This is not a minor league city. We’re not thinking about Broadway or movies, we’re thinking about how we can get audiences to come to the Alliance on opening night.”

The renowned novelist does have a bone to pick with the ATL, however. “The only thing I don’t like is the traffic. This is the one place I’ve been to, next to New York, where they speed up if they see you crossing the street. Or maybe it’s just me!”

Shuler Hensley to lead King-Mellencamp ‘Ghost Brothers’ cast at Alliance
By Howard Pousner - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Broadway favorite and Marietta native Shuler Hensley and Emily Skinner (a Tony nominee for "Side Show") will lead the cast of the Stephen King-John Mellencamp musical "Ghost Brothers of Darkland County," the Alliance Theatre announced Wednesday.

Also cast: blues musician/film actor Jake La Botz, former Atlantan and "American Idol" runnerup Justin Guarini, country music singer Dale Watson, actor-writer Lucas Kavner; actor-songwriter Kate Ferber ("One Child Born: the Music of Laura Nyro") and stage-screen actor Christopher Morgan.

Additional cast members include Peter Albrink, Kylie Brown, Lori Beth Edgeman, Gwen Hughes, Joe Jung, Joe Knezevich, Rob Lawhon, Royce Mann and Travis Smith.

Performances of the world premiere, directed by Alliance artistic director Susan V. Booth and with music direction by T Bone Burnett, begin April 4.

At an Alliance season announcement event in May, King described "Ghost Brothers'" plot as being about two teen brothers who drank too much at a dance, drove to the cabin with a girl and drank some more, then had a gun accident that led to a fatal wreck in a car speeding to the hospital. As in most King tales, the deaths are merely part of the creepy backdrop in a dissection of the flaws of human relations.

King recalled Mellencamp approaching him more than a decade ago to collaborate on the chilling story the singer had heard after visiting an Indiana lakeside cabin he was thinking about buying.

Asked if the story were true, King replied: "John Ford in ‘Liberty Valance' said, ‘If they give you truth and legend, print the legend.' We printed the legend. I don't know how much of it's true. You know what? There's a story like that about every house, every hotel."

In Wednesday's casting announcement, director Booth said, "It’s a pretty extraordinary thing when you get to offer an artistic home to Stephen King, John Mellencamp and T Bone Burnett. This piece is dear to these gents’ hearts and I’m thrilled we’re able to bring it to life at the Alliance Theatre."

As I wrote last week, it took twelve years for Ghost Brothers of Darkland County to get from inception to execution. I attended the red carpet premiere on April 11. Here are my thoughts.

Before the show started, ghostly figures flitted across the stage, projected onto the walls. It was an eerie effect because I didn't expect anything to be happening yet. I was talking to others in our group when I noticed motion out of the corner of my eye. Then we realized there were stationary figures at the edges of the stage. Was the old man sitting on a bus stop bench real or a mannequin? More of these figures materialized, part of the ensemble that would join the actors on stage from time to time.

Two thirds of the stage is taken up by the interior of a lakeside cabin. There's a living room—which has a couch, a grandfather clock, a huge fireplace and a gun rack—and a small bedroom with a Shania Twain poster on the wall and bunk beds.

Beyond the cabin's Spanish moss-covered roof is an old water tower. To the left is an open area used for exterior action and flashbacks. An old Pontiac convertible is pushed onto the stage here from time to time. In one wing is a lover's leap. An elevated roadhouse set is located left of the cabin's chimney. From this significant vantage point, a bartender and central character Joe McCandless contemplate the past. The four-piece band, composed of musicians who regularly play with Mellencamp, occupies a screened-in loft above the stage.

As the show starts, a figure emerges through a trap in the floor. Tattoos cover his arms and chest, and he looks like a satanic rockabilly singer. This is "The Shape," a kissing cousin of Randall Flagg perhaps, played with sassy glee by blues singer/songwriter Jake La Botz. He sashays and saunters around the stage like he owns it. His opening piece, "That's Me," sets the tone. In it, he claims responsibility for every evil thought and malicious deed.

The Shape reappears frequently during the play, goading characters into making bad choices. He quickly becomes an audience favorite. For two generations he has been wreaking havoc on the McCandless family in the Mississippi town of Lake Belle Reve. Joe was ten when his older brothers died in 1967. Andy got easy As in school, whereas Jack struggled to make Bs. Their fierce rivalry worsened when a girl entered the picture. They argued and fought whenever Jenna wasn't around, forgetting that young Joe was watching everything.

Jack unexpectedly wins the Hawkeye Shootin' Competition. They drink too much that night and the love triangle comes to a head. What happens next becomes as romanticized in Lake Belle Reve as the stories of Cain and Abel or Romeo and Juliet. Only Joe knows the truth. His sons, Frank and Drake, appear to be heading down the same destructive path as his brothers. He needs to set the record straight so they can learn from the past.

Frank just sold his first novel for half a million dollars. He's bound for New York with Anna—Drake's ex-girlfriend, who bears a strong resemblance to Jenna. (The past harmonizes, right?) Drake blew his big chance when he screwed up during one of his band's gigs with a talent scout in the audience. He'll probably be stuck working at the local garage for the rest of his life.

Drake broke Frank's arm during their most recent set-to, but Frank goaded him, so the two are equally culpable. Joe summons his sons and his wife, Monique, to the family cabin, the site of the long-ago tragedy. Anna comes with Frank, putting everyone on edge. Unlike Jenna, who was a pleasant, high-spirited girl who genuinely liked Jack and Andy, Anna isn't nice at all. She's probably with Frank only to torment Drake—she knows Frank is unlikely to take her to New York now that he's found success. She spends a lot of the play slumped on the couch, seemingly uncertain why she's there. Monique isn't given much to do, either. She doesn't know Joe's secret but she encourages him and tries to keep her sons from bickering, but—even though she gets a couple of show-stopping songs—she is somewhat superfluous to the action.

The ghosts of Andy; Jack; Jenna; and Dan Coker (Christopher L. Morgan), the black cabin caretaker who unfairly received some of the blame for what happened in 1967, are interested in Joe's story, too. They're trapped in the cabin until the truth can set them free. Ten-year-old Joe (Royce McCann) chimes in occasionally, urging his older self to come clean.

The cast includes a Tony Award winner (Shuler Hensley as Joe), a Tony nominee (Emily Skinner as Monique) and a runner-up from the first season of American Idol (Justin Guarini as Drake), along with professional musicians La Botz and Kate Ferber (Jenna).

The songs range from R&B to C&W to rock and roll, mixed with ballads and Patsy Cline-esque torch songs. The vocal performances are all strong, though Ferber stands out in "Home Again," "And Your Days Are Gone," and "Away from this World," and struts her stuff in a short dress and stockings in "Jukin'." When the ghosts sing as a chorus, their harmonies are magical, and the full power of the ensemble is amazing. A program insert containing the final song listing indicates that King, Mellencamp and director Susan V. Booth tweaked the show right up to the last moment. A reprise was added to the second act, and the final song was renamed "The Truth is Here" from "The End is Here."

The show's staging, lighting and visual effects are all remarkable. When a character looks at a photograph, it is projected for the audience to see. As time ricochets back and forth, the years scroll backward and forward on the cabin's roof. Other text cues occasionally appear on the walls. Panels in the floor allow characters and props to emerge on demand. The actors do double duty as props crew. Though those who use the lover's leap are obviously jumping safely onto an air bag, the fact that they perform this ten-foot leap at all is impressive—and they have to do it several times. During the energetic dance routine—reminiscent of "Thriller"—that ends Act 1 ("Tear This Cabin Down"), the lights make the entire stage look like it's on fire.

Like many Southern Gothic tales, Ghost Brothers hinges on a secret. When the truth is revealed, it may not seem like such a big deal, but it changes how the McCandless family is seen—and how it sees itself. The romantic legend loses its sheen. It is also a secret borne by a 10-year-old boy. As such, it shaped the fifty-year-old man he became. The first act dragged a little, with Joe dithering over how to tell his story—and how much of it to tell. The second act is much peppier; as the ghosts of the past and the present intermingle, tensions rise and the conflicts come to a head.

Signs outside the theatre warn of Stephen King levels of violence, profanity and adult situations. Certainly this isn't family entertainment. There are numerous sexual references and sensual behavior (though no nudity), and jarring special effects associated with gunshots. Some of the violence is stylized, including the use of a transparent curtain that portrays flowing blood.

Viewers familiar with King's other works will find themselves in familiar territory once the truth is revealed. King explored the need to make changes to get things right in the Dark Tower series and in an episode of Kingdom Hospital. The question is: who has to change and when do they have to do it? For a while, it looks like the show might end like a Shakespearean tragedy, but there is redemption.

There is no word yet whether Ghost Brothers of Darkland County will have a life beyond its run in Atlanta. King and Mellencamp fans who find themselves in Atlanta between now and May 13 shouldn't pass up the chance to see this show if they can.